Right, just thousands USD.. 10" RCOS OTA already USD14,000 ++......<faint>.
On the other hand, I think one of our local universities got one 18" RC telescope cost more than 1 million ringgit loh. So this RCOS one is cheap cheap only.


Easy to make, but need some patience. Just make for the fun of it lah.
You can franchise this........

ugpm. For private consumption only.

Maybe he got upon the wrong side of bed that morning.....happens to me sometimes too. Then I get crabby with everyone. Anyway, he's welcome to give us advice on astrophotography anytime.

Take good pics? I'm not sure I'm qualified to do that. I'm more like an accidental photographer.

My basic method is to take lots of shots, then I might just get a few which are in focus, correctly exposed, and pointed in the right direction. Thank God for digital cameras!
You should see the multi-gigabyte collection of bad shots in my HDD....

BTW I think I'm overdue to drop by at your place to catch up with the Hi Fi/Home Theatre scene. Would you like to see my new DIY toy the Digital T-amp? I still can't get it to work yet, but it makes a good conversation piece with friends. If you're into DIY, maybe I'll leave it with you to figure out how to get it to produce some music. In exchange, I'll give you some pointers on how NOT to take astrophotos. DEAL?

Mercury Transit this morning:

Got some snapshots of Mercury right on the limb with some prominences nearby......but no time to sort out, got to go to work. Maybe I'll post them tonight.

Corrections: I got the Sunspot Numbers wrong. They should be 921, 922 and 923 instead of 821, 822 and 823 respectively.

Please note: I have replaced the earlier image with this corrected one to avoid confusion over the sunspot numbers. Sorry for the mistake - my brain got fried looking at the Sun.

This post has been edited by March05: Nov 11 2006, 07:27 PM

My transit sequence:
from 7.52 am to 8.03 am. Taken using a Neutral Density filter (ND-5)


and here's where I started getting messed up. Tried to change to a H-alpha filter.....lost focus and exposures all haywire....
from 8.04 am to 8.11 am.


All shot from my house in Subang Jaya looking out of upstairs window. As usual, with my Casio Z750 in afocal configuration.

Sorry, syapl, no experience with a DSLR, only got an old Ricoh and Minolta SLR kept in the cupboard as museum pieces. But you should be able to get better shots than mine with a dSLR, I guess. Just a question of using the correct T-Ring adapters with any telescope.



This post has been edited by March05: Nov 9 2006, 10:25 PM

OOOOOOooooonostalgia!

now I feel like digging up all my old star trail shots.....those were the days when all we had was a standard 50mm lens on the SLR, and a Sakura tripod and Mr.LKM's B mode.
Shooting startrails was hot stuff!

which reminds me, deepyu.....didn't you promise, eons ago, to show us your meteor shower pics?

the sunspot numbers have been corrected, please use the new photo instead.

9thnth4 - imageshack renamed my file......was supposed to be 9th November 2006.

All the info can be extracted from the EXIF.

Other than that, the telescope is a Chinese 120mm F/5 achromat refractor on a non motorised GEM. Eyepiece was a 32mm super plossl.

I used the same setup for the eclipse moon pics posted earlier. This is quite a common beginner's stuff.......

Yes I think you did.

Please post lah. Nowadays even star trails cannot get due to the setoopid haze......

Talking about meteor showers, the Leonids are on this weekend, again.

According to SpaceWeather.com, the best time to watch is just before dawn.

A little while ago looked at the Eastern sky, got a shock; thot I saw a UFO. So long haven't seen the stars in the evening sky lo.

BTW it was Sirius.

Next few mornings (just before dawn) got something interesting to shoot.

Jupiter, Mercury and Mars all within 1 degree of view. Normal camera can shoot! Tomorrow morning best - they will form a triangle.






Singastro and cloudynights I visit once in a blue moon...

Shanghai astronomy looks interesting, but I need an online translator which is astro savvy - otherwise, the translated english is like a comedy! I think many Malaysian astro ppl are posting on one Hong Kong forum regularly, but my chinese sucks, so I can't follow what they say. Anyway, I try to do observation at my own rate; too many hobbies to track.....like you.

Now looking for a game console for school holidays......unfortunately PS3 and Wii too expensive.

Same price? Cheapest I found in the market for PS3 was RM3,300 at PC Fair. Shops here quoting anything from RM3,400 to RM4,000 ++. Madness!

It seems the Wii is going for around RM1,700 in KL. That's still extremely high, considering it's suppose to be retailed at USD249.00 in the US. But I suppose since it's also in short supply like the PS3, the price is bound to be hiked.

What are you guys playing on anyway? I think Mr.LKM definitely has got a PS2, and Xbox 360, right?

Ok, back on topic, I overslept this morning and missed the planets triangulum show - and the sky is nice and blue now.... One more chance tomorrow morning.

Did anyone manage to catch a pic or a glimpse of McNaught?

I have been watching in vain mornings and evenings for the past 3 weeks and it's total failure!

Imagine,..... the brightest Comet of the past 30 years appears, and I still haven't seen it. Excuse me, I'll go hang myself.

That event flew right past me.

It couldn't have been McNaught b'cause 2 weeks ago it (the comet) was at same level (parallel to the horizon) as the Sun - quite impossible to see unless you were actually looking for it, the sky had to be exceptionally clear at the same time and you would have to be standing in a position where the sun was totally blocked from view.

It was probably a lightning-fireball or a meteorite burning up (also called a fireball if very bright).

Did your friend tell u it was moving very fast? Was this day or nighttime?

Frankly, I feel very suicidal nowadays. The last real good opportunity for us Malaysians to see the comet was last Sunday. The comet is already moving quickly away from us on the other side of the sun, and to us, it will apparently move even closer to the sun, making it harder to see. Even the long dramatic tail is at the wrong angle for us!

ya lah.....normally, our position near the equator would be an advantage as we can see both the northern and southern skies. But this time, lady luck is against us - while those in the Northern and Southern hemispheres enjoyed fantastic views of the comet easily, we were got only bad cloudy mornings and evenings the whole month.......

My eyeballs will pop out of their sockets!

You want to recruit me to be one of your fundraisers? That's a new role for me.
I'm more expert as a fund-waster......

See what I can do lah...but I hope I'm not the only fundraiser you have. If so you'll have the poorest club in Malaysia.

It's been so long since I last experienced a meteor shower I can't even remember what a falling star looks like. I hope it's not Alzheimer's.

Just like any other hobby, the more you spend on your equipment, the more you can do with it.
My personal opinion for all it's worth:
Less than RM2K: You'll feel like upgrading very soon. Or lose interest, as Mr.LKM says.
RM2K-5K: Sweet spot for entry level.
RM5K-RM30K: Serious Amateur.
Above that: Crazy and Loaded AstroNUT.

Any chance you can pop over to Kluang and join Mr.LKM's club?